Abstract
This research explored the determinants of college seniors' overall evaluations of their academic programs (i.e., their major departments). The research was conducted with a sample of 775 students at two universities. The results suggest that, in general, stimulating course work and good teaching were somewhat more important than opportunities for faculty/student interaction or perceived faculty knowledgeability. There were significant field and gender differences, however. For example, faculty availability and course stimulation were more critical among women than among men, and faculty teaching ability was particularly significant in artistic fields. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Astin, Alexander (1977).Four Critical Years. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Baldridge, J. V., Curtis, D. V., Ecker, G. P., and Riley, G. L. (1977). Alternative models of governance in higher education. In G. L. Riley and J. V. Baldridge (eds.),Governing Academic Organizations pp. 2–25. Berkeley, Calif.: McCutchan.
Bare, Alan C. (1980). The study of academic department performance.Research in Higher Education 12(1): 3–22.
Bean, J. P. (1980). Dropouts and turnover: The synthesis and test of a causal model of student attrition.Research in Higher Education 12: 155–187.
Bean, J. P., and Bradley, R. K. (1984). Untangling the satisfaction-performance relationship for college students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April, New Orleans.
Biglan, Anthony (1973). Relationships between subject matter characteristics and the structure and output of university departments.Journal of Applied Psychology 57(3): 204–213.
Bowen, Howard S. (1977). Outcome data and educational decision making.New Directions for Institutional Research 15: 43–55.
Braskamp, L. A., Wise, S. L., and Hengstler, D. D. (1979). Student satisfaction as a measure of departmental quality.Journal of Educational Psychology 74(4): 191–198.
Burack, E. H. (1975).Organization Analysis: Theory and Application. Hinsdale, Illinois: Dryden.
Cameron, Kim (1978). Measuring organizational effectiveness in institutions of higher education.Administrative Science Quarterly 23: 604–629.
Cameron, Kim (1981). Domains of organizational effectiveness in colleges and universities.Academy of Management Journal 24(1): 25–47.
Chronicle of Higher Education (1984). Text of new report on excellence in undergraduate education. pp. 35–49. October 24.
Clark, Burton (1970).The Distinctive College. Chicago: Aldine.
Crawford, P. L., and Bradshaw, H. L. (1968). Perceptions of characteristics of effective university teachers: A scaling analysis.Educational and Psychological Measurement 28: 1079–1085.
Deal, T. E., and Kennedy, A. A. (1982).Corporate Culture: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
DeYoung, A. (1975). The social ecology of university student living units and its effect on selected behavioral, subjective, and performance variables. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.
Durio, H. F., and Kildow, C. A. (1980). The non-retention of capable women engineering students.Research in Higher Education 13:(1): 61–71.
Endo, J. J., and Harpel, R. L. (1982). The effect of student-faculty interaction on students educational outcomes.Research in Higher Education 16(2): 115–138.
Feldman, K., and Newcomb, T. (1969).The Impact of College on Students: Volumes 1 and 2. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Freiden, A., and Staaf, R. (1973). Scholastic choice: An economic model of student behavior.Journal of Human Resources 8: 396–404.
Gamson, Zelda (1967). Performance and personalism in student-faculty relations.Sociology of Education 40: 279–301.
Gruber, James E. (1980). Sources of satisfaction among students in postsecondary education.American Journal of Education 88 (3): 320–344.
Hackman, Judith D., and Taber, T. D. (1979). How academic departments differ in their evaluations of student success. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Washington, D.C., April.
Hartnett, Rodney T. (1976). Departments within colleges differ in impact.ETS Findings 3(3): 5–8.
Hartnett, Rodney T., and Centra, J. A. (1977). The effects of academic departments on student learning.Journal of Higher Education 48(5): 491–507.
Hearn, J. C. (1978). Major choice and other vocation-related factors in the lives of college students: A longitudinal study. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University.
Hearn, J., and Olzak, S. (1981). The role of college major departments in the reproduction of sexual inequality.Sociology of Education 54: 195–205.
Holland, John (1973).Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Careers. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Holland, John, Gottfredson, G. D., and Gottfredson, L. S. (1975). Read our reports and examine the data: A response to Prediger and Cole.Journal of Vocational Behavior 7: 253–259.
Johnson, H. H., and Hartwein, George (1980). Psychosocial stress, performance, and affective and somatic responses in college students.Research in Higher Education 12(2): 139–153.
Kanter, R. M. (1977).Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic.
Kanter, R. M., and Brinkerhoff, D. (1981). Organizational performance: Recent developments in measurement.Annual Review of Sociology 7: 321–349.
Keaveny, T. J., and McGann, A. F. (1978). Behavioral dimensions associated with students' global ratings of college professors.Research in Higher Education 9: 333–345.
Keeley, M. (1978). A social justice approach to organizational evaluation.Administrative Science Quarterly 22: 272–292.
Keller, George (1983).Academic Strategy: The Management Revolution in Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Lodahl, J. B., and Gordon, Gerald (1972). The structure of scientific fields and the functioning of university graduate departments.American Sociological Review 37: 57–72.
Lodahl, J. B. and Gordon, Gerald (1973). Differences between physical and social sciences in university graduate departments.Research in Higher Education 1: 191–213.
McDill, E., and Rigsby, L. (1973).Structure and Process in Secondary Schools. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Moos, Rudolf (1979).Evaluating Educational Environments. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Moos, R. H., DeYoung, A., and Van Dort, B. (1976). Differential impact of university student living groups.Research in Higher Education 5: 67–82.
Morstain, B. R. (1977). An analysis of students' satisfaction with their academic program.Journal of Higher Education 48: 1–16.
Neumann, Y., and Neumann, L. (1981). Determinants of students' satisfaction with course work.Research in Higher Education 14(4): 321–333.
Neumann, Y., and Neumann, L. (1983). Characteristics of academic areas and students' evaluation of instruction.Research in Higher Education 19(3): 323–334.
Pascarella, Ernest T. (1980). Student-faculty informal contact and college outcomes.Review of Educational Research 50(4): 545–595.
Pascarella, Ernest T., and Terenzini, P. T. (1977). Patterns of student-faculty informal interaction beyond the classroom and voluntary freshman attrition.Journal of Higher Education 48: 540–552.
Pedhazur, E. J. (1982).Multiple Regression in Behavioral Research (2nd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Peters, T. J., and Waterman, R. H. (1982).In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies. New York: Harper and Row.
Phelan, William T. (1979). Undergraduate orientations to scientific and scholarly careers.American Educational Research Journal 16(4): 411–422.
Pondy, L., and Mitroff, I. (1978). Beyond open systems models of organization. In B. Staw and L. Cummings (eds.),Research in Organizational Behavior pp. 1–36. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.
Prediger, D., and Hanson, G. R. (1976). Holland's theory of careers applied to men and women: Analysis of implicit assumptions.Journal of Vocational Behavior 8: 167–184.
Regan, Mary C., and Woelk, P. A. (1984). University structure as reflected in patterns and persistence of undergraduates' characteristics. Paper presented at the Joint Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education and Division J of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, October.
Roskens, R. W. (1983). Implications of Biglan model research for the process of faculty advancement.Research in Higher Education 18(3): 285–297.
Smart, John C. (1976). Duties performed by department chairmen in Holland's model environments.Journal of Educational Psychology 68(2): 194–204.
Smart, John C., and Elton, C. F. (1975). Goal orientations of academic departments: A test of Biglan's model.Journal of Applied Psychology 60(5): 580–588.
Smart, John C., and McLaughlin, G. W. (1974). Variations in goal priorities of academic departments: A test of Holland's theory.Research in Higher Education 2: 377–390.
Solmon, L. (1981). New findings on the links between college education and work.Higher Education 10: 615–648.
Spady, William (1971). Dropouts from higher education: Toward an empirical model.Interchange 2: 38–62.
Stumpf, S. A. (1979). Assessing academic program and department effectiveness using student evaluation data.Research in Higher Education 11(4): 353–363.
Tierney, Michael (1981). Priority setting and resource allocation.New Directions for Institutional Research: Evaluation of Management and Planning Systems, Number 31, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Tinto, Vincent (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research.Review of Educational Research 45: 89–125.
Tinto, Vincent (1982). Limits of theory and practice in student attrition.Journal of Higher Education 53(6): 687–700.
Walberg, Herbert (1976). The psychology of learning environments. In Lee Shulman (ed.),Review of Research in Education, Vol. 4 Itasca, Illinois: Peacock.
Weick, Karl (1979).The Social Psychology of Organizing (2nd ed.). Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
Weidman, John (1979). Non-intellective undergraduate socialization in major departments.Journal of Higher Education 50: 48–62.
Winteler, A. (1981). The academic department as environment for teaching and learning.Higher Education 10: 25–35.
Yonge, G. D. and Regan, M. C. (1975). A longitudinal study of personality and choice of major.Journal of Vocational Behavior 7: 41–65.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hearn, J.C. Determinants of college students' overall evaluations of their academic programs. Res High Educ 23, 413–437 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00973688
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00973688